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Removing Google is my goal over the next year. Right now I’m working on Amazon. I bought Amazon’s video devices and, like everyone else, bought into the Echo devices. But I want to rid myself of them within the next year or so as much as possible. Google will be difficult as I’ve had a Gmail account for many, many years, and Google search is difficult to get away from.
Good, it's great when you finally do it. I have also deleted all social media as it's just cancerous and a huge waste of time. Amazon worries me more than Google these days, I couldn't imagine having their spyware in my home. I also realize social media is like talking to the authorities where anything you say can be used against you, so it's best to say nothing. Who knows when some innocuous post from a decade prior will have you fired from a job or branded as something you're not. Screw them. I'll probably delete my forum accounts too in the future. I think my best bet is to watch and follow whilst avoiding posting anything.

I have a HomePod that I like a lot and I feel a lot more comfortable with Apple. Moving email providers is a pain, I moved from AOL to Protonmail and Outlook and did it over the space of a few years.

I found moving away from Google search the easiest, as Google heavily censors search results to the point where you just cannot get good results. Moving to DDG felt like the web was opened back up and I wasn't getting a curated main stream media Silicon Valley only result.

I think Google's mass censorship drive to push their progressive Silicon Valley viewpoint is slowly backfiring. I know of quite a few people who've moved away from their services (still a drop in the ocean I'm sure) to services like DDG and Protonmail. The harder they censor the more people will begin to go elsewhere.
 
When third party apps just work like you expect, that ususally means they are following Apple Styleguide. This is important as iOS users are used to certain UI elements and Android also, which 3party apps should honour, instead of trying to be different.


It's not so much about adhering to a certain style, but yes, they do operate differently. When you make an app using Apple's tools, you can change the way things look to make your app unique, but you probably won't alter things like scrolling behavior or the speed at which transitions happen or how the share sheet is arranged or spacing between UI elements, etc.

When you make an app and its UI components from scratch or import those from your own other OS, it's going to feel different, and often unfinished or unpolished even if it feels perfect on that other OS. On a related note, I make animated/interactive UIs for phone and computer screens used in TV and film, and my goal is to be as close to the real thing as I can, and it does take a lot of work to get things behaving like what we're used to seeing. If the timing is off or corners aren't rounded just the right amount or shadows are too dark or too light or whatever (all things that the OS generally provides defaults for), it just looks clunky.

My guess is Google's apps will continue to look like Google apps at first glance. They will still use their own icons and colors and fonts, but things like attaching files or choosing how to reply to a message or swiping to delete in gmail will feel less awkward on an iPhone.


Thank you for your explanations they all makes sense. So as users we subconsciously become familiar with the UI elements and anything that's different feels off and that's why Google will move to native apps. 👍🏼
 
I'm always curious about this. Maybe as a developer you can answer this.

How can an app truly differentiate itself without a unique look and feel? i.e different UI elements and fonts

If every app followed UIkit and Human Interface Guidelines to the letter, wouldn't they all just look like a generic app from Apple?
For simple UI elements, such as buttons or tables, Android and iOS are virtually the same. A button is a button, right? The big differences are in how an app is navigated. However, it‘s still a relatively small thing UI-wise as an iOS user understands having tabs at the bottom of the screen, or a navigation bar at the top to navigate an app. The way to differentiate the app is using colors, graphics, and different branding. When done right, an app can look virtually identical between iOS and Android, while still being made for a specific device. Of course if you’re part of a large company you have the resources to just develop your own UI no matter what Apple or Google recommend. I’m a one man operation and don’t have time to just create UIs for each, so I make due with what I have.
 
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Good, it's great when you finally do it. I have also deleted all social media as it's just cancerous and a huge waste of time. Amazon worries me more than Google these days, I couldn't imagine having their spyware in my home. I also realize social media is like talking to the authorities where anything you say can be used against you, so it's best to say nothing. Who knows when some innocuous post from a decade prior will have you fired from a job or branded as something you're not. Screw them. I'll probably delete my forum accounts too in the future. I think my best bet is to watch and follow whilst avoiding posting anything.

I have a HomePod that I like a lot and I feel a lot more comfortable with Apple. Moving email providers is a pain, I moved from AOL to Protonmail and Outlook and did it over the space of a few years.

I found moving away from Google search the easiest, as Google heavily censors search results to the point where you just cannot get good results. Moving to DDG felt like the web was opened back up and I wasn't getting a curated main stream media Silicon Valley only result.

I think Google's mass censorship drive to push their progressive Silicon Valley viewpoint is slowly backfiring. I know of quite a few people who've moved away from their services (still a drop in the ocean I'm sure) to services like DDG and Protonmail. The harder they censor the more people will begin to go elsewhere.
gMail will be difficult To get rid of, and because I develop Android apps I can never 100% get rid of Google services. However, with more personal accounts I should be able to transition. I need Google Search for my business, i.e. checking how I rank and if my apps and web sites are appearing. I also use social media for marketing, so I have to have a presence there as well.

However, maybe I’ll move over to DDG for search on my personal devices. I also want to buy a HomePod sooner rather than later. I agree about Amazon. I trust them less than anyone at the moment.

Thanks for the reply!
 
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hmmmm.....Wasn't good enough, but everyone else was using it just fine....Scapegoating?

While that seriously sounds true, it is a good thing that they are finally getting around to doing this. I hate using software on one platform that looks and feels like you are on another platform. windows application should look like windows, MacOS iOS, android, etc should all look like their prospective platforms.
 
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Google’s all apps feel incompetent. Especially Google Pay. It struggles to do a basic task like smooth scrolling. Indian users will recognise this immediately.
The new GPay is garbage, it made me go back to PayPal for P2P. It doesn't even have a web interface like the previous version. I'm in the US and the draw for new GPay for me was the ability to use it for buying gas. That only lasted a few months, then didn't work anymore. I definitely see the horizontal scrolling issues, which sounds like what you're describing.
 
The new GPay is garbage, it made me go back to PayPal for P2P. It doesn't even have a web interface like the previous version. I'm in the US and the draw for new GPay for me was the ability to use it for buying gas. That only lasted a few months, then didn't work anymore. I definitely see the horizontal scrolling issues, which sounds like what you're describing.
The interesting thing is, google pay is written with flutter/dart and was supposed to show what a great framework this is. I wonder if their shift to native components will ensure better support for "cupertino" components in flutter. They always seemed to be 2nd tier components compared to material.
 
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I think the YouTube app has been the worst as a whole, but its issues are most noticed since I use it far more than the other Google software. GDrive having the floating add button can be annoying if the list of contents is long enough and I wanna tap the ellipsis:

IMG_0164.jpg


Google Home isn't great for wi-fi alone, may be fine for Home control otherwise. I miss GWifi for my OnHub.

The only consistency between Material I've really come to enjoy is an ellipsis to report feedback, sounds like they knew it would be used often...
 
If this gives dev’s an easier time to code for both platforms, I’m for it. I just want good apps on my slab of glass & metal to work well.
 
You can do that without overriding the platform. Take Microsoft Office. The Ribbon exists on Windows, Mac and iPad. There’s something akin to the Ribbon on iPhone and Android as well. While they are recognizable and behave in a similar way on each, they use native widgets and theming on each.
Big companies often think they can do it better but hardly ever can.
 
I hope they don’t change the YouTube app too much. I think it’s great in its current form and doesn’t feel that much different from any iOS app. I also really like the Google search app, it’s very slickly designed and feels modern. In some ways I like the look and feel of Google’s apps over Apple’s.
There are a number of things they could improve. For example truly supporting picture in picture (which I think just a number of people have experienced in pilots, or closing the video you're currently watching without multiple steps of minimising first before hitting the 'X'.
 
gMail will be difficult To get rid of, and because I develop Android apps I can never 100% get rid of Google services. However, with more personal accounts I should be able to transition. I need Google Search for my business, i.e. checking how I rank and if my apps and web sites are appearing. I also use social media for marketing, so I have to have a presence there as well.

However, maybe I’ll move over to DDG for search on my personal devices. I also want to buy a HomePod sooner rather than later. I agree about Amazon. I trust them less than anyone at the moment.

Thanks for the reply!
Definitely try out the HomePod. I have the original one I got for $200 and it is great. People rag on Siri but I’ve found it to be extremely consistent and reliable, sound quality is superb too. I haven’t tried out the HomePod Mini.

I think Apple should’ve just lowered the price on the big HomePod as it’s a really good device.
 
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Removing Google is my goal over the next year. Right now I’m working on Amazon. I bought Amazon’s video devices and, like everyone else, bought into the Echo devices. But I want to rid myself of them within the next year or so as much as possible. Google will be difficult as I’ve had a Gmail account for many, many years, and Google search is difficult to get away from.
Search and YouTube are the only Google services that I actively use. I have tried other alternatives like DuckDuckGo, and the results are just sub par. I really wish there was a way to disable Google AMP though.
 
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UIKit has 'improved' enough for Google to use it?

You've got to be kidding me. Such arrogant ********.
I’ve got to agree with Google. There has been gaps in UIKit which for me was resolved in ios14. Prime example is collectionview (UI improvements that behave more like a tableview) and splitview enhancements (3 views natively rather than embedding 2 together).

ios15 goes further and standardises and vastly improves how buttons work.

There are many more changes but these were some of my biggest gripes whilst developing. Apple has made great progress the last 2 years.
 
The Gmail app on iOS is rather sluggish when scrolling. I haven't noticed anything as bad elsewhere on the same device. I hope this UI thing could fix this.
 
Give us SYSTEM USER DARK MODE for the YouTube app already. 🤬🤬🤬
 
It’s happening. Google’s looking for an exit out of producing the Android OS anymore as they’re bored with it. And, if they can help users to easily set up their iOS devices with Google’s Tools, well, supporting a suite of apps is much easier than supporting an entire OS and all the varieties of hardware it is expected to run on.
 
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Thanks for the link - I stay corrected and yet …

First of all, when I look at the selected screenshots on Google play I see Apple Music iOS with a thin Android top bar wrapper. But the overall impression of buttons and visual language is Apple.

Also, when I read reviews like this one (and that is a 4 out of 5 stars review, so a happy one), I sense that Apple has done to get on Android what Google did to get on iOS:

I've been using Apple Music for years, since it was released. I really like this app but it's sad to say that this is the only app on my entire phone that lags and has weird touch input issues. Usually it works fine but sometimes it'll just bug out. To explain; when scrolling through playlists or an...”

UX (design and coding) is my daily bread and sorry to say, but there are few companies that go to the full length of native UI implementation. Getting quick and cheap on all relevant platforms is the usual mantra.

I have always been fighting, to develop the backend in a cross-platform format, but to code the UI native (can easily be done). For exactly the reasons mentioned NOW by Google, but also to avoid the complaints described by the Android user. And since my son is a heavy Android user (mainly through oneplus) I have seen how smooth and beautiful UI can be on Android.

Personally, I haven’t had much of a problem with Google’s apps on iOS. Yes, it looks different. Yes, Google has some really bad UX choices, but so does Apple recently.

And material design is a really good system. It even pays more attention to Accessibility than iOS does (if followed through).

But all in all, I think it would be a nice gesture to follow each other’s guidelines and use the financial powers of Google and Apple to develop natively, when you enter the other’s platform.

Edit: just checked the Apple developer overview on Google Play and come on … they have beats, music, Apple TV and move to iOS. And all of them look 100% Apple. Because, like Google, they run with their brand and promote it wherever they can.
 
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